Coating and drying apparatus



March 11, 1930.

R. J. EMMERT COATING AND DRYING APPARATUS Filed OCT.. 29, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 In/vantoz attorney March 11, 1930. R. J. EMMERT COATING AND DRYING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sinaai.V 2

`Filed Oct. 29, 1925 ..IIII

attorney?! March 11, 1930. R J EMMERT 1,750,313

COATING AND DRYING APPARATUS Filed 0G13. 29, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 11, 1930 UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFICE RODGER J4'. EHHERT, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, .ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO DELCO-REMY CORPORATION, OF DAYTON, OHIO, .A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE OOATING AND DRYING APPARATUS appncauen mea october as, 1925. serial No. casar.

This invention relates to apparatus for coating articles of manufacture and conveying them throu h a suitable oven for drying the coating. (gne of the objects is to pro-v 5 vide apparatus for automatically carrying out the o erations of the coating andl drying, in or er-`that large quantities of articles may be operated upon economically.

The invention relates more Earticularly to the varnishing and drying o varnish upon armatures for dynamo-electric-machines, and the disclosed embodiment of the present invention includes work-handling apparatus -for causin armatures to be conveyed successively. t rough troughs containing in'sulating varnish and then into an oven in which the armatures arefmoved relatively slowly from a region of minimum heat to a region of maximum heat, and then back again, so that the armatures are slowly heated and cooled while in the oven. The work-handling mechanism includes apparatus cooperating with the conveyor for removing the armatures automatically from the conveyor.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form yof embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic, longitudinal, sectional view showing the conveyor, one of the varnishing trays and the armature-drying oven, and mechanism for automatically detaching the armatures from the conveyor.

Fig. 1* is an end view of an exhaust fan which is connected 4with stack flue 54 shown in 1- Figs. 2 and 3 are plan and sectional views, respectively, of a portion of 'the conveyor and the armature-varnishing trays.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view on an enits` larged scale, showing the manner of auto-v matically removing the armatures from the conve or.

Re erring to the drawings, a varnish-drying oven, designated as a whole by numeral 42, is provided with bottom and top walls 43 and`44,'end walls 45 and 46, baies 47 extending upwardly from the bottom wall 43, and baies 48 extending downwardly 'from the top wall 44. This arrangement of walls and baiiies provides a tortuous passage for heated air which passes into the inlet 50 of the oven from an air duct 49. Air issuing from the .oven outlet 51, as indicated by arrow 51,

-ment of the chain causes the armatures to be carried through the oven. The conveyor chains are passed around pulleys 63 which are arranged so that the chain will be doubled back upon vitself and disposed throughout the tortuous passage between the inlet 50 and the outlet 51.

As the hooks 62 move downwardly from the right of the oven jacket 53, as viewed in Fig. 1 and as indicated by arrows 64, the armatures 41 are loaded manually upon the hooks62. The conveyor moves the armatures successively through troughs 65 containing an insulatin varnish. The armatures roll along 4the ottoms of the troughs so that the windings will b e covered w1th varnish. Then the armatures move, as indicated by the arrows 66 and 67 through the oven outlet 51 and then slowly toward oven roll down the chutes on a suitable receiving platform.

Referring to Fig. 4, these automatic unloading devices each comprise a surface 72 in the bottom wall of the chute 71 which is 5 arranged so that the bottom end of the hook will lag behind its eye which is suppoorted by the rods 61 of the conveyor chain. As the chain moves clockwise around the axis of the pulley 63 just above the surface 72, the armatures will be dragged along the surface 72 until they pass over a ridge 73 and into contact with a steeper portion 74 o'f the chute. At this instant, gravity causes the armature to roll ahead of the hook, there being suliicient friction between the hook and its shaft to prevent the hook immediately following the armature. In this way, the armature shaft rolls free of the hook upon a part of the chute 71 which causes the arma ture to* be elevated relative to the hook, so that it may roll away from its down chute.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the hooks 62 of each pair are connected by a sleeve 62a rotatable on a rod 61 and the sleeves 62a are located on the rods 61 by collars 62b attached to the rod. The hooks 62 therefore swin together and the armatures are prevented from being accidentally disengaged from the hooks by reason of the armatures becoming oblique to the rods 61. Maintaining parallelism between the armatures 41 and the rods 61 as the armatures are moved through the coating troughs causes the armatures to roll stralght along the bottoms of the troughs so that the armature will not creep over against one of the hooks and cease turning, and also assists in the automatic unloading operation illustrated in Fig. 4.

The flue 54 is connectedwith an exhaust fan 80 connected with an outlet flue 81. The fan 80 sucks from the space 52 the gaseous matter issuing from the oven outlet 51, and also induces the circulation of relatively cool air into the jacket through the jacket opening 82 in order to assist cooling the armatures 41 after they leave the oven. This may be necessary in order that the armatures may be cool enough to be handled when they are delivered from the chutes 71. The fan 80 induces also the circulation of air into the jacket 53 under the canopy 83 which is located above the varnish trays 65. This circulation prevents varnish fumes from passing into the atmosphere surroundin the oven and causes these fumes to pass out tie Hue 81.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows: I

1. Drying apparatus comprising, in combination, an oven havin an inlet for receiving heated air and havin a conduit forming a warm air outlet, an a conveyor for conveying articles to be dried through the air outlet into the oven, then through the oven to the heated air inlet and then back again over the same course in the oven and then throu h the air outlet.

2. Drying apparatus defined by claim 1, further characterized by an oven having a tortuous passage connecting the heated air inlet and the air outlet.

3. Drying apparatus delined by claim 1, further characterized by an oven having a heated air inlet throu h the bottom wall .and near an end wall an an air outlet through the to wall, the inlet and outlet being connecte by a tortuous passage.

4. Drying apparatus comprising, in combination, an oven, means for eating the oven so that some portions are hotter than others,

and means for conveying articles over a tortuous path from a cooler portion to a hotter portion and then over a return course to a cooler portion, the return course being adjacent to the course of the articles passing from the cooler portion to the hotter portion, whereby the warmer articles receding from the hotter rtion may give up heat to the cooler artic es approaching the hotter por tion.

5. Drying apparatus comprising, in combination, an oven having an opening throu h which articles may pass into and out of t e oven, means for heatin a certain portion of the oven to a greater egree than that portion near the opening, an means for conveying articles from the opening to the hotter portion of the oven and from the hotter por tion to the opening over an adjacent tortuous course so that articles approachin the hotter portion will receive heat from t e articles moving away from the hotter portion.

6. Drying apparatus comprising, in combination, an oven, means for conveying articles from an opening in the oven over a tortuous course and then back to the opening over a return course which is adjacent to the course away from the opening, and means for heating the oven so that its temperature will be greatest substantially where the articles start over the return course, whereby articles recedin from the o ening will be gradually heate and artic es approaching the opening will be gradually cooled.

7. Drying apparatus comprising, in combination, an oven having interlocking ballles therein providing a plurality of interconnecting passages or chambers, means for heating the said passages to progressively dilering temperatures, and means for conveying articles to be dried through the oven chambers, so that the articles are successively moved from the coolestJ passage to that of maximum temperature and thenceforth over substantially the same course to the c001- est chamber, whereby the articles are dried and cooled.

In testimony whereof I hereto ax my signature.

RODGER J. EMMERT.

f3 Si 

